Mansfield Town vs Reading: Match Preview
The Royals head to Mansfield in their penultimate away match of the season.
After a disappointing turn of events on Good Friday, the Royals are looking forward to see what they can do against Mansfield Town on Easter Monday.
Reading definitely weren’t at their best against Lincoln City, with the Imps stronger than the Royals. This result has allowed Leyton Orient to take charge of the playoff race with them being ahead due to superior goal difference.
If Reading want to have any hopes of getting into the playoffs, the next two games must be wins. From there we can see what happens in the Barnsley game and whether we can still qualify.
In this preview I will analyse the Lincoln game, talk about Caylan Vickers and the impact he’s had on Mansfield, and I will give my predictions for the game.
What? League One matchday 44
Season? 2024/ 25
Who? Mansfield Town
Where? One Call Stadium
When? Monday April 21
Time? 15:00
Opposition manager? Nigel Clough
The Lincoln loss
To have any chance at making the playoffs Reading needed a point out of this game.
The first half of the match seemed pretty even with Reading having most of the possession, but in terms of shots the Royals only managed one on target in the first half. That came from Amadou Mbengue within 10 minutes. It’s all good having the most possession but when you’re not doing anything with it, that’s where problems start.
Lincoln managed nine shots in the first half, four of them being on target, and they seemed like the team who wanted it more.
The second half then kicked off and Reading seemed to dominate but, 21 minutes in, James Collins scored from a set-piece. That was their only shot on target that half. Similar to the first half, Reading managed a total shots of seven, but only came up with one on target, which was a long shot from Lewis Wing.
One thing that Reading do really well is hold the ball. When our midfielders have the ball it’s very unlikely anyone will take it off them, but some teams allow that to happen and close off the space in behind. That is exactly what Lincoln did: they were stronger, they were set up defensively very well, and overall seemed the better side.
That was the first time Lincoln have done the double over Reading since the 1976/ 77 season. It seems like payback from last season when we were the team to have dampened their chance of getting into the playoffs and they have done it to us this season.
It’s difficult to pick a player who played well in a loss, but the saving grace especially in the first half was goalkeeper Joel Pereira. He made some very standard saves but ultimately kept us in the game as much as he could.
I think the front three is where the problem started in that match. In my last preview I mentioned pace as being what’s needed to break down defensively solid teams but Chem Campbell and Mamadi Camara don’t have that speed.
Playing Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan on the wing would have allowed Reading to try the long-ball tactic and it would have allowed him to have support when creating an attack. But there seemed to be none of that. I am all for backing the players who have stayed with us during this time but sometimes it feels like they have to give a little bit more.
One person who I was very impressed with was ex-Royal Ben House. His striking prowess seems to be what Reading needed in this match.
The game changed minutes after Lincoln brought on Ethan Erhahon and Collins. Switching to a slightly more attacking formation in the second half meant they could exploit Reading’s very attacking midfield three.
The two full-backs were occupied by Lincoln’s wingers, allowing their full-backs to come in behind. Collins was left unmarked and able to slot a free header past Pereira from the set-piece. Lincoln then took control of the game.
But that match is now in the past: we need to focus on what Mansfield can bring to the table.
Caylan Vickers and Mansfield’s attack
Signing on loan from Brighton & Hove Albion, Vickers has performed pretty well for Mansfield this season. The ex-Royal has managed two goals and two assists in the 15 matches he’s played, but his overall contribution to the team has made them better.
Mansfield aren’t in a great run of form recently, having only won one of their last five games, losing three times, but the 3-3 draw with Rotherham United may have lifted their spirits a little bit. Currently 18th in the table with a -10 goal difference, Mansfield seem to be lacking an out-and-out goalscorer with Lucas Akins and Dominic Dwyer not managing the goals they would have hoped for.
Mansfield currently play a back three which allows a lot of space in behind their wing-backs. Once again it is going to be pace that will win this game. Mansfield play in a very similar way to Lincoln but also like to overload the midfield, with Matthew Craig and George Maris doing a lot of running.
Vickers was left out of the Rotherham game but I think he will be involved in this one. He is a quick, pacey forward that can cause some real danger if the defence isn’t organised properly.
Sadly, due to Michael Craig’s injury, we won’t be seeing the face-off of the Craig brothers in this one.
For those saying Reading have a bad away form, the Royals have only lost one game on the road since January and I don’t expect them to lose this one.
My lineup
Pereira will be in goal. Like I said before, he’s saved us countless number of times and I expect him to have to make some saves against Mansfield as well.
I think the defence will stay the same. Kelvin Abrefa, Tyler Bindon, Amadou Mbengue and Andre Garcia have been the mainstays in this team but both full-backs need to up their game as they will be busy.
I think the midfield three will also stay the same but I’m hoping Ben Elliott will be back soon. This means Wing, Charlie Savage and Harvey Knibbs will take the lead once again.
The attack is where I would change things. Neither Campbell nor Camara have been up to scratch lately. I would move Ehibhatiomhan to the wing, put Jayden Wareham up front and give Adrian Akande a try on the other side. Pace in behind and some quick feet are what it will take to beat this Mansfield defence.
Score prediction: 2-0 Reading
It was great to see the Lincoln game produced a home turnout we hadn’t seen this season and I hope as many of you as you can back the boys again in this one.
Come on you Royals!